


5 times yeza sees his wife cuddling with her best friend and the 1 time he just goes with it

by nonbinarywithaknife (littleboxes)



Series: me sobbing about critical role [92]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Best Friends, Bonding, Cuddling & Snuggling, F/M, Family Fluff, Fluff, Gen, Humor, Literal Sleeping Together, Platonic Cuddling, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Platonic Relationships, Queerplatonic Relationships, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, could be read as slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-20
Updated: 2019-05-20
Packaged: 2020-03-08 17:54:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18899677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littleboxes/pseuds/nonbinarywithaknife
Summary: exactly what the title says.





	5 times yeza sees his wife cuddling with her best friend and the 1 time he just goes with it

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by a post from @all-pacas on tumblr: https://all-pacas.tumblr.com/post/185016407654/basically-all-i-want-is-for-someone-to-write-me-a#notes

 

I.

Yeza walks into the lab, hoping to check and see how much powdered asphodel they have, if any. He turns the corner and nearly bumps into Mr Caleb- at least, he assumes, given the coat. “Oh! I’m sorry, I-?” 

He trails off, only just realizing that the shadow is quite a bit bigger than the humans he’s used to. He looks up, and balancing on Mr Caleb’s shoulders is- his wife?

“Veth?” he asks, and stops, because he’s more bewildered than anything. There’s the sound of swearing, and Mr Caleb wobbles dangerously, but she scampers down with ease. He blinks at the casual display of rather impressive gymnastics. 

“Hey honey, what do you need?” Veth asks, tucking a- book? into her pocket. He turns to her, and the oddness of the moment slips away. They walk through the stacks towards the lab together, and he almost misses the fraction of a second that something akin to dejection crosses Mr Caleb’s face. Almost. 

 

II.

Again, Yeza is in the library. He’s curled up in the corner with one of the alchemy textbooks that had appeared on the shelves- the work of Mr Caleb, he suspects, given who’d called for the lab to be created. It’s really quite kind of him, but Yeza can never seem to find him when he remembers to thank him. 

He pauses in his reading when he hears a yowl. He frowns in worry- the only cat he knows of is Frumpkin, and it would be horrible if something happened to him. And what a way to repay Mr Caleb’s generosity! Letting his cat come to harm!

Yeza hops down from the chair, and wanders in the direction the noise came from. Finally, he hears the murmur of a familiar voice- Veth. He stops just in front of a shelf, taking in the sight in front of him. Mr Caleb, curled up in one of the high-back chairs, a book open on his lap. Veth is- curled up on his shoulders, head peeking out to read as well, and Frumpkin is glaring up at them from the ground. 

Yeza can’t help but smile. He can picture it easily, Veth pushing the poor creature aside to get to the spot she wants, safe in the knowledge that cats always land on their feet. He can’t help but notice how natural it seems for both of them, to be so close. 

He watches for another second, before turning away to get back to his reading- no need to disturb them. He wonders why they never seem to do that in front of him. Has he just never noticed? Surely he isn’t  _ that _ inattentive? Hmm.

 

III.

It’s been a few weeks since that afternoon in the library, and Yeza’s come to a conclusion. They only snuggle when they’re alone. It’s… a little disheartening, that his wife doesn’t seem to be comfortable being close with her friends in front of him, but at least she has someone to confide in, now. He remembers back in Felderwin, that she didn’t really have any close friends. 

Acquaintances, for sure, and Edith was a lovely neighbor, a gods-send when Luke was born, but she didn’t really have friends over. Granted, neither had he, the shop being what it was, but she’d always been reluctant to ‘burden him’ with her worries. He’s glad she has  _ someone _ , even if it isn’t him. 

Most of the others are out, today, and it’s just Veth, Mr Caleb, Mr Clay, and him in the house. Mr Clay’s out in his garden, and Yeza is just emerging from his room, having slept in. It’s so wonderful to be able to do that again. 

He ambles downstairs to grab something from the kitchen- Mr Clay makes the best breakfasts, if a little lighter on the meat than he’d like- when a flash of color catches his eye. He backtracks, and sees Veth and Caleb lounging on a sofa in the ‘Happy Room’. Mr Caleb is lying down, his head on Veth’s lap, and she’s braiding flowers into his hair. The song she’s humming makes him smile- she used to sing it when they were out gathering flowers together. 

He squints, and can make out some peonies and some forget-me-nots, and- a cornflower? One of Veth’s ears flick, and he waves awkwardly when she catches him standing in the doorway. Before she can say anything, however, he speaks. 

“Oh! I was just going to get some food, don’t mind me! Although, if you’re feeling up to it later, you could braid some for me, later?”

He’s pretty sure she blushes- at least, her cheeks go a darker shade of green. “Well, I- if you’d like, dear. I wasn’t sure… with the, the claws, you know…”

He walks over and gives her a peck on the cheek. 

“I’d love it, honey,” is his reply, before walking to the kitchen. When he makes his way back towards the library, belly full and feeling satisfied, a few minutes later, the sofa is empty. 

 

IV.

Yeza, Caleb, and Veth are all sitting together in the lab/library. Yeza’s got his alchemy book open- he’s almost finished it, and is looking forward to starting the next one in the series, and! He managed to thank Mr Caleb! The poor man had turned a shade of red just a few shades short of  _ red emperor _ and stuttered something Yeza was  _ pretty sure _ was ‘you’re welcome’ before fleeing. 

Yeza had just smiled. His wife sure knew how to pick ‘em. 

He was so deep in his book that Veth’s triumphant exclamation made him jump his height in the air. Veth is smiling widely, and she turns to Mr Caleb. He’s got the widest smile on his face that Yeza’s ever seen, and makes an odd, jerky motion with his arms, before glancing over at Yeza. 

“Congratulations,  _ liebling _ ,” is all he says, so softly Yeza can barely hear it, and proceeds to  stealthily move himself closer to Veth. Yeza notices, of course, but he doesn’t say anything. He may not understand the spell she just learned- or at least, he assumes it’s a spell, those diagrams are  _ really  _ beyond him- but he’s  _ always  _ happy for Veth when she learns something new. 

She’s incredibly bright, and it’s nice that he’s not the only one who sees it, anymore. 

V.  
It’s late, and for once, Yeza is last of the two of them to go to bed. He stumbles up the stairs, and pushes open the door, not for the first time missing his halfling-sized home. It’s dark enough that he doesn’t realize there’s a second shape in the bed until he’s lifting up the covers. 

Sure enough, it’s Mr Caleb- or, rather, Caleb, at this point. Yeza’s pretty sure you can call people by their first name if you’re about to share a bed with them, and he’s  _ tired _ . Veth is curled up in her ball, her head on his legs. Caleb has an arm wrapped around her, and the other around his middle. 

Yeza just sighs, smiling softly, and climbs in, twisting around- and being careful not wake either of them up- until he’s next to Veth. He supposes it’s actually quite nice- certainly much warmer- with an addition. They’ll have to get another blanket, though. This one is too small for three. 

 

+VI.

Caleb wakes up slowly- a new experience, but. Perhaps something he could allow himself to get used to; living in a house again, waking up in a bed softer than the lumpy mattresses of shabby inns. He realizes that he and Nott have napped quite a bit longer than they’ve planned. It’s just a few hours after dawn, by his count, and he stretches out slightly. He’s careful not to jostle Nott, whose steady breaths he can feel on his legs. 

It’s only when he hears the cracking of someone else’s joints that he tenses. “ _ Was _ -?” he mumbles, brain still muddled with sleep, and starts to sit up. 

“Oh, good morning Mr Caleb- actually, is it alright if I just call you Caleb? I think we’ve reached that.”

Caleb blinks quickly before it clicks. He and Nott- Veth- were napping in her bed. They overslept. Nott- Veth- is  _ married _ . 

“Er.  _ Ja _ .”

Caleb flails for a second, thinking to get up but then realizing that Nott- Veth- is still sleeping. Unfortunately, his jostling wakes her anyway. 

“Caleb? Wha-?  _ Yeza? _ ”

As the two of them stare, Yeza just smiles. 

“Oh, it’s quite alright. You don’t need to- to hide, you know, how close you are. I know you’re friends, and honey, I’m  _ glad _ . I don’t want to make you uncomfortable, of course, but if you’d like to, you know, hug, in front of me, that’s fine.”

Caleb can’t help but be a little slack jawed. This was- not quite the reaction he’d been expecting. A glance shows him that Nott- Veth-  _ liebling _ \- is just as surprised. He knows it may look odd, to others, his and Nott’s closeness. 

“Ah. Well. Thank you? But I think I will, ah, leave, now, yes?” is what he settles on as a resonse. 

“Oh, don’t feel like you have to,” Yeza says, laying back down and curling into the blankets. “I know I’ll be going back to sleep- it’s downright  _ refreshing _ , all this sleeping in.”

Caleb and Nott share a look, and then Nott stares fondly at her husband. She lays back down as well, but not before leaning over to Yeza-

“I love you,” she says. 

“Love you too honey,” he replies, voice muffled by the pillow. Caleb slowly pulls the blanket back up- he is actually quite tired, still. Before he totally drifts off, he feels a claw pat his arm. 

“Love you Caleb,” Nott whispers. 

**Author's Note:**

> red emperor, according to wikipedia, is another term for red peonies  
> /edit/ you guys!!!! i've not been replying to your comments because it would literally just be a variation of !!!!!!!!aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh you're so nice1!!!!!!!!!!!!! for all of them because Guys!!!! You're so nice!!!!!! thank you!!!!!


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